


I'm Not The Only One (To Notice Someone's Missing)

by Sealure



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Ahsoka loves her boys, Charger is missed, Clones Get A Hug, Clones as Family, Echo is missed, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Longshot is missed, Post-Episode: s03e18 The Citadel, clones need a hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-26
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 01:55:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,842
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25535467
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sealure/pseuds/Sealure
Summary: Men fall. Men die. This is the reality of war. It is the cost of peace. It is a heavy one. Brothers who are loved are lost and sometimes it seems that no one even notices. But Ahsoka Tano loves her men, and she notices when they're gone. She does what she can to ease the pain of the ones who must go on alone.
Relationships: CC-2224| Cody & Ahsoka Tano, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 & Ahsoka Tano, CT-7567 | Rex & Ahsoka Tano
Comments: 6
Kudos: 90





	I'm Not The Only One (To Notice Someone's Missing)

Fives was sitting in his bunk on the _Resolute,_ fingers clamped around a holo-image of himself and his batchmates on Rishi.

Cut-Up. Droidbait. Hevy. _Echo._

They were all gone, now.

Even Echo.

He'd tried to go back, tried to find even the slightest clue that maybe his _vod_ was still alive, that he'd made it, but…

But he had his orders.

They had to retreat.

His batch had had five men in it.

He'd had fived _vode_ that were closer to him than anyone else. They had known him, and loved him, and they had been _everything_ to him.

And now he was the last one.

He sat there for a long time, unable to move, just staring at their bright eyes and wide smiles.

Oh, how he missed them.

The door slid open and he couldn't bring himself to look up until dark synth-leather boots stopped on the floor in front of him. Only one person on this ship had feet that small and she was supposed to be with the medics, getting her seven blaster burns, twisted ankle, and concussion fixed up.

"Commander, you should be with Kix," he said hoarsely, numbly.

"I needed to see you, first," she answered, and her voice is just as broken as his is. "Fives. This is for you."

He looked up, slowly, and his heart stopped.

She had Echo's bucket.

She had Echo's _buy'ce,_ and she was holding it out to him with something fractured in her eyes that said she knew _exactly_ how important this was to him.

"Oh, Echo," he rasped, the holo-image falling to his bunk as he grabbed his _vod's_ _buy'ce_ and pressed it to his chest, curling over it.

She all but fell onto the bunk beside him, going up on her knees to curl over his back and wrap her arms around his shoulders as he cried. Her own slender body was shaking and something wet was steadily dripping onto the back of his neck.

"I'm sorry," she said, her voice cracking. "If I'd been faster, I could've been with him. I could've redirected the blaster fire. I'm so sorry, Fives."

He let go of the helmet with one hand, grabbing her forearm and squeezing. "Not your fault," he rasped out, his sobs beginning to slow. It still hurt like nothing else in his life had ever hurt before, but it made it _so much better_ to know he wasn't the only one to notice that Echo was missing. "It's not your fault, Ahsoka. You know he'd be the first one to tell you that."

"I know," she whispered, fingers tightening to white streaks on his armor. "That doesn't make it feel any better."

He let go of her arm and turned, reaching out to haul the youngling into his lap. She went willingly, settling in sideways with her forehead tucked into the curve of his neck. He put Echo's _buy'ce_ in her lap and she wrapped both arms around it and he wrapped both of his around her and they cried together.

* * *

General Skywalker was looking for his Padawan.

He seemed to be the only one who _didn't_ know where she was.

He was getting irritated the longer he searched, so Rex decided to bite the proverbial slugger and take one for his men.

"Sir," he said, stepping out square in front of his near-raging General.

"What?" Skywalker snapped.

"I know where she is, sir, and all due respect, I'm going to ask you to leave her be. Just for tonight. She'll be reporting for duty in the morning, sir."

"Excuse me?" His General's mouth dropped open. "Did you just—?"

"So she is with him." General Kenobi's tired voice came from behind Rex, and the older Jedi stepped around him to place a calming hand on Skywalker's shoulder. "I was wondering about that."

"She always is, sir," Rex said softly.

No matter which _vod_ fell in the battle, after it was over, Ahsoka could always be found among her men, a ready shoulder to cry on, a listener to scream to, a gentle and loving embrace to fall into. Whoever had lost a batchmate or a best friend, she would seek them out—often escaping or just avoiding the medics to do so—and she would stay with them all night, guarding their dreams.

She considered her men to be her highest priority.

Attachment or not, Ahsoka Tano loved her boys.

And General Kenobi smiled sadly, because he knew it. After all, Ahsoka did the same thing for the 212th whenever she was with them. It was why Ghost Company loved her about as much as Torrent Company did.

"One of these days, I shall have to ask her where she finds the strength to do this every time," General Kenobi sighed, his eyes flickering with his own grief.

"It's her heart, sir," Cody answered quietly. "It's big enough for all of us."

"Will someone please explain what you're talking about?" Skywalker was still scowling, but his anger had faded into curiosity with a hint of pride. After all, this was _his_ Padawan they were speaking of so highly.

"At the end of every battle, sir," Rex told him, "Commander Tano comes to the barracks to talk to the men. She just…" He shrugged, unable to fully articulate just how much their Commander did for them. "She makes it better, sir."

"Ahsoka's kindness and compassion are truly a credit to our Order, and indeed, a lofty goal every Jedi should strive for." Kenobi squeezed Skywalker's shoulder and let his arm drop. "Her love is a pure thing to behold."

"Wait, no lecture on attachment?" Skywalker raised an eyebrow at his old Master.

"It is not attachment," Kenobi answered. "She loves them with all of her heart, but it is an unselfish, compassionate love. She holds their lives of equal value to her own and cares deeply for them, yet it is not possessive. She is ready to let go of them when their time comes."

"All due respect, General," Cody said with an exhausted smile, "that's a bunch of Jedi poodoo to us soldiers. All we know is that losing a brother isn't half as bad when she's there with us. She knows their names, remembers them, and she _cares_ that they died. She notices."

"She just makes it better," Rex repeated, because that was what she did, and there wasn't really a better way to put it.

"Huh," Skywalker said with a considering expression on his face. "I may not have known exactly what she was doing, but I suppose that's why she always demands to see the logs for every single man aboard the _Resolute_ every time we ship out."

Kenobi shook his head with a warm smile. "She does the same for us every time she's on the _Negotiator,_ " he said. "I dearly hope it is something that she never loses. Now," he turned to Rex and Cody, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. "Captain, Commander, you are relieved of your duties for the night. Go, find rest and healing with your _vode._ I don't want to see either of you anywhere near a datapad until morning. Understood?"

"Understood, General," they said in unison, snapping off sharp salutes.

"Good." Kenobi nodded. "Goodnight, men."

"Goodnight, sir."

They started down the hall, Cody's arm finding its way across Rex's shoulders. There was a faint tremor to his _ori'vod_ , and Rex remembered with a sinking heart that Longshot had gone down today, as well.

They made their way to the barracks, not their own quarters, slipping in as quietly as the automated doors allowed. They stripped out of their armor and changed into clean blacks as quickly as they could before they made a beeline for Fives' bunk, knowing that was most likely where she would be.

Sure enough, she was propped against the headboard, Fives curled around her with his head in her lap, her fingers gently running through his hair.

Both of them were pale and tearstained, but Ahsoka still had a smile for them.

They wordlessly joined the pile, arranging themselves with an ease that spoke of long practice. Cody slid between Ahsoka and the headboard, letting her rest her head against his left shoulder. She pulled Fives up until his forehead was pressed into the crook of her neck, one of her arms around his waist and the other hand still running through his hair. Rex laid behind Ahsoka, his head on Cody's right shoulder and his arm thrown around Ahsoka's waist to embrace Fives as well.

"I'm so sorry about Longshot, Cody," she whispered, her voice hoarse with grief. "I'll miss his griping when we run early morning drills."

"Thank you, _vod'ika_ ," Cody said, just as quiet, pressing a brotherly kiss to the top of her head. "So will I."

"And Rex, I'm sorry about Charger, too." She squeezed the Captain's forearm where it passed over her midriff. "Everybody's datapads are going to be running out of power left and right for the next _month_ without him coming behind us and charging them."

Rex laughed, thick and wet, and didn't answer, just squeezed them tighter.

Ahsoka left a gentle kiss on Fives' forehead, and he pressed just a little bit closer to her.

They didn't really sleep, but they stayed there, together, for the entire night cycle.

* * *

The General crept in long after he should have been asleep, running a warm palm over the men's heads and gently wiping away the tearstains on his grandpadawan's face. He unfolded the blanket he had under his arm and carefully spread it out over them. The blanket was thick and soft, not regulation at all, which meant that it came from the General's personal quarters.

Cody wasn't even a little surprised.

For all that he tried to appear detached and aloof in front of the Council, Obi-Wan Kenobi cared about his men just as much as Ahsoka did. He just showed it in different ways.

This was one of them.

The General gave them all a weary smile and then was gone as quickly as he'd come with nothing more than a quiet, "Peaceful dreams."

Ahsoka yawned, then, her young body thoroughly worn out from the extended battle. She snuggled a little deeper into her brothers, her bright blue eyes falling closed.

She hummed sleepily. "He wove his Force-signature into the blanket," she told them through another yawn. "Feels like a great big hug."

"It does," Fives whispered, his head still tucked beneath hers. "Like nothing can get through to us."

"Go to sleep, you two," Cody said softly. "We've got the entire cycle off. We'll still be here when you wake up."

"Promise?" Fives whispered, his voice cracking and his hands shaking.

Ahsoka let out a wordless sound of grief and comfort, hugging him tighter.

"We promise," Rex said firmly, his voice unwavering.

The Commander tightened his grip on them and settled in to keep watch.

* * *

_**Mando'a translations:** _

_Buy'ce—helmet_

_Vod—brother_

_Vode—brothers_

_Ori'vod—big brother_

_Vod'ika—little brother/sister_


End file.
